Underneath The Mistletoe
by IdealSkylar
Summary: Mistletoe doesn't last forever but it's a perfect excuse to kiss that one person you've had your eye on all night.


**Christmas is here so I thought I'd give all you fellow advanceshippers a cute christmasy story. :)**

**Because unfortunately I have not seen very many :(**

**Or maybe I just missed them all. Regardless I'm doing this.**

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Pokémon.**

**Here we gooooo**

"To your left. A little more...oh no too far, Ash. To your right. STOP."

Ash sighed as he hung up the last Christmas decoration onto the ceiling. He asks, "Does it really matter where I put it? It's not like anyone's actually going to be looking up at the ceiling."

Delia scowled crossing her arms, "Of course it does. The house has to be perfect for the party."

Ash sighed again and jumped down from the step ladder. He claps his hands together swiping off dust, "What's next, mom?"

Delia lead him into the kitchen, "I've just finished baking the cookies and I need _someone_ to decorate them with icing."

Ash immediately replies, "Gimme the icing."

Delia chuckles slapping it into his hands. He giddily gets started on the cookies while Delia strolls into the living room to add the finishing touches to the rest of the house. She was a natural perfectionist and adored the holiday season. She organised the Christmas party to reunite all of Ash's travelling partners, family and friends. Delia stoked the fire, made sure there were enough plates, took out the bin and many more chores with the help of her loyal Mr. Mime. Ash took pride in frosting the cookies and Pikachu even helped by adding confectionery products such as sprinkles, chocolate buttons and more.

Soon enough the door bell began to ring and Delia opened the door with a series of welcoming smiles. The first to arrive were their neighbours Samuel, Daisy and Gary Oak. Professor Oak stayed in the living room chatting to Delia while Daisy and Gary made their way to the kitchen.

"Sup, Ashy-boy." Gary said plopping himself down on a stool.

"Hey." Daisy smiled sitting next to Gary.

Ash looks up from the batch of cookies and smiles back to the both of them, "Oh hey. Is anyone else here?"

"Nope." Daisy replies shaking her head.

Gary smirks, "Well not yet anyway. They'll probably come running through once they know I'm here."

Daisy scoffs, "Or run for the hills."

Ash stifles a laugh while Gary shoots his older sister a glare only for her to toss back her long, brown straight locks. She winks at Ash and then asks, "So where's your bathroom?"

He motions with his hand, "First door on the left in the corridor."

"Gotcha." Daisy replies before walking out of the kitchen. Ash places the cookies into a plate and gets started on decorating another batch with Pikachu on his shoulder.

Gary smirks once again, "Didn't know you had a thing for my sister."

Ash stops what he's doing and frowns, "What?"

"Oh you know. I saw the casual flirts between thrown here and there." Gary said taking a bite out of a cookie.

"Really? Didn't notice. I'm not interested in her like that though, Gary." Ash casually replied.

Gary finishes off his cookie, "You wouldn't have a chance with her anyway. She's already got a boyfriend."

"Mmhmm." Ash says not paying much attention to Gary as he puts more cookies on another plate.

"Besides you've already got a thing for Maple." Gary adds. Ash stops in his tracks again. He looks up at Gary really confused, "What do you mean by that?"

Before Gary can say anything the doorbell rings grabbing their attention. Through the open kitchen door Gary sees a honey haired girl skip in. He slightly rolls his eyes and goes to the fridge for a drink.

A shrill voice sang, "Oh Ash!"

Gary teases, "Here comes your number 1 fan."

"She's not my-"

"Boo!" The same voice said excitedly. The girl was a fairly long red dress, a cardigan, black tights and shoes. She had her hands on Ash's shoulder in hopes to scare him.

Ash looked back, "Hey Serena."

"Hellooo Serena." Gary replies shutting the door of the fridge.

She perkily replies, "I've put the presents under the Christmas tree. Do you have any for me?"

"They should be under the Christmas tree. Along. With. Everybody. Else's." Ash says shaking the icing tube vigourously. He was on the last batch and was getting annoyed. The tube then burst splattering onto cookies and a few drops of white icing landing on his face. Ash wipes his face and puts the abstractly painted cookies onto a plate.

"That's the last of them done." Ash says triumphantly wiping his brow.

Serena giggles leaving Ash and Gary very confused. Gary asks, "What's up, Serena?"

She flicks her hair back letting loose another girly giggle, "It's just you missed a spot."

"I did? Where is it?" Ash asks trying to see on the back of a spoon. Serena smiles and turns him around to face her. She blushes at their proximity and reaches out slowly, "It's right...over-"

"Serena! Please be a dear and help me put all the Christmas presents under the tree." Delia's voice shouts echoing into the kitchen.

Serena steps down from her tiptoes and turns around, "I'll be right there!"

She swivels on her heel and Delia shouts again, "Thank you. The rest of the guests have arrived and I don't think I can put them all under the tree."

Serena rushes out of the kitchen but not before waving to Ash and Gary. Gary shakes his head smiling, "Ashy-boy. You literally have her wrapped around your finger and you don't even know it."

"Still don't understand what you mean by that." Ash comments.

"You're quite the ladies man. Second to none. Except for yours truly. And you don't even know it which is what makes it even more hilarious." Gary explains taking a swig from his soda.

Ash shakes his head smiling, "I'll take that as a compliment."

"You should." Gary replies.

There's a small silence between them as Ash arranges the plates in the kitchen neatly with Pikachu by his side while Gary finishes the rest of his drink. As Gary gets up a velvety voice says, "Hey boys."

Ash's head immediately perks up and he sees a grinning figure at the doorway. May Maple. The girl who he won the Terracota Contest with. The girl who sometimes haunts his dreams. The girl he noticed. She had quite a developed figure for her age. She was a gorgeously slim hourglass that a lot of boys in heir school has also noticed. Her hair was down with her fringe framing her face. Instead of her usual bandana, she wore a cute Santa's hat upon her head. May had also gotten into the Christmas spirit with her outfit making sure to be stylish yet comfortable and warm. She wore a red skater skirt with sheer black tights underneath and a snowflake patterned sweater that rested at the top of her skirt covering it ever so slightly. She also had knee high black combat boots and a maroon scarf to finish up the look. The sleeves on her sweater were a little too long as they draped over her hands put to Ash that made her look even more cute..adorable even. As the thought crossed his mind he frowned for a bit.

Gary nods, "Hey, Maple."

"Hi, May." Ash replies beaming.

"So Maple. If you're here that must mean Berlitz is here..." Gary said popping his head out of the doorway scanning the living room.

May chuckles, "Yeah..how'd ya guess?"

Ash adds, "Because he stalks her."

May bursts out laughing but stops once she sees Gary glaring at her. She coughs awkwardly exchanging mischievous glances. Gary scoffs, "What is this? Make fun of Gary day?"

"Nah. Pretty sure it's Christmas." Ash smirks.

"I'll admit I walked right into that one." Gary replies defeated. However his cocky mood quickly arises. He runs his hand through his hair, "I would love to stay and chat but I have a date with the ever so amazing Dawn at the mistletoe."

May raises an eyebrow, "You better hurry. I think Paul might be getting the same idea."

Gary's eyes widen, "W-What? No way."

She simply smirks and then Gary asks, "Where is she exactly?"

"Probably talking about fashion with Serena or something. If not then taking selfies next to either the Christmas tree, cute decoration or mistletoe, go figure." May replies uttering the last 2 words.

Gary pulls her into a big hug and slightly spins her around repeatedly thanking her. She laughs and pats him on the back. Ash casually glances up at them frequently as he tidies up the kitchen. Gary notices and decides to have a bit of fun. He slowly puts her down and May says, "You can let go of me now, Gary."

"I know." He smirks closing his eyes knowing perfectly well that Ash was watching him give a tight hug to May.

"Alright, get off me Gary." May says a bit more firmly. Gary then whispers in her ear, "Will you hurry up and get with Ash already? Mistletoe isn't going to stay there forever."

Gary quickly let's go of her and then May wacks his arm, "Oh piss off Gary."

"You can thank me later, Maple." Gary shouts back winking before disappearing into the crows.

May walks up to Ash and he asks, "What was that about?"

She stutters, "N-nothing, it's not something you need to worry about."

"Cool." Ash says turning around to face her. She chuckles and Ash frowns, "Great. First Serena now you. What's wrong with my face?"

May stepped up closer and she could feel his warmth radiating onto her. She slightly shuddered and held her breath for a bit. He smelled like vanilla...and cookie dough but mostly vanilla. She took in his scent and then looked up at his grinning face. May used her index finger to swipe the icing off of his cheek and popped it into her mouth. It may have been a harmless gesture but for Ash, it made him attracted to her, in some strange way. Was it the way she made a popping sound when she took out her finger or gave him doe like eyes when she teasingly ate the icing?

She smirks, "You had a little something on your cheek."

"Thanks." Ash smiles. He takes hold of two plates filled with cookies while May leans against the counter.

She asks, "So what'd you get me for Christmas?"

"It's a surprise." Ash winks.

"Ooh. Mysterious, are we?" May teases. He walks through the kitchen with May following him. She asks, "How about a little hint?"

"That would ruin the surprise." Ash teased back as he set the cookie plates on different tables throughout the house.

Guests came and served themselves as they all had casual conversations. Ash went back to the kitchen to distribute more plates while May got a cup of hot chocolate and filled it with small marshmallows and some whipped cream. She got to talking with Misty and Iris.

"Holy Miltank. This peppermint mocha is literally life." Misty exclaimed with sparkles in her eyes.

Iris laughed, "Misty. I didn't think you cared so much about coffee."

"I didn't. But I do now." Misty remarked.

May laughed, "Don't even get me started when Dawn first took you to get pumpkin spice lattes."

Iris joined in with May's laughter ignoring the scowls from Misty. She adds, "And Tracey got jealous over coffee. Coffee."

"Whatever. At least my love life is active. Unlike some peoples." Misty said before sipping her coffee.

May and Iris exchange glances. Iris teases, "Oh was that shade, Misty?"

"Well I don't see any sun around here." Misty smirked.

May commented, "We're going to need some vitamin D for the amount of shade you've thrown."

"Between us three I'm the only one with a boyfriend." Misty said.

Iris retorts, "I have better things to do. Like become dragon master."

Misty smiles, "I'm just saying if you're ever interested. Cilan has a bit of a crush on you."

"Didn't know that. I thought he was gay." Iris replies. "Have to admit he is pretty cute though. But I'm not really looking for a boyfriend right now so he'll just have to wait in line."

"Whatever you want to do." Misty says. She winks, "Just don't keep him waiting too long."

Iris scoffs, "Ha! And have no fun. Please. Now that I know he likes me, I'm-"

May jokes, "Please keep your dirty jokes to yourself Iris."

"Nice one, May." Misty says high fiving her.

Iris' face was filled with shock but she quickly recomposed herself. She smirks, "You're one to talk. I've seen you daydream in class. Bet you're thinking about Ketchum in more ways than one."

May begins to blush furiously and Iris proudly states, "I knew it."

"Didn't you know before?" Misty asked.

"I did. But now this confirms it for sure. Guys may not be smart enough to pick up on you crushing on Ketchum but nothing gets past us."

Misty says, "Ash is really dense though."

Iris agrees, "I know right. He may be a genius with Pokémon but he is clueless about girls."

May pipes up, "Okay I get it. He's really dense. But I think it's kinda cute. Ok maybe really cute. Hot even."

"Well good luck because everybody knows that Serena has this HUGE crush and I mean gigantic crush on him." Misty states.

May sarcastically thanks, "Wow. Much appreciated. Now I feel _so _much more confident."

Iris reassures, "Don't worry. We're joking."

May smiles, "Thanks you guys."

Misty then asks, "Hey do you know where Dawn is?"

Before Iris or May can reply an arm slings around Misty's shoulder and a pair of lips plant themselves between her neck and cheek. Misty closes her eyes smiling, "Hey Trace."

"Hey babe." He replies drinking from a bottle.

May comments, "Um..sexual much?"

"Yeah. Get a room while you're at it." Iris jeers. They all laugh while Tracy drinks from his bottle. He sets down the bottle and cups Misty's face. They both start to kiss in front of Iris and May.

"Urgh. PDA." Iris scoffs crossing her arms together.

May jokes as well, "Disgusting right."

Misty gives them the finger before fully concentrating on her kiss with Tracey. May and Iris decide to walk on past leaving them to make out in the corner. Yup. Misty and Tracey were _that _couple. Iris went to get a drink in the kitchen while May wandered seemlessly through the house. She came across a frantic Serena who had just emerged from the attic. Serena asked fixing her tangled hair, "How do I look? Have you seen Ash? HOW DO I LOOK?"

"Calm down, Serena." May said. "I don't know where Ash is, sorry. And FYI, you look like you just got electrocuted by Zapdos."

"Eek! That bad?!" Serena asked with her voice escalating many octaves. She makes a beeline for the bathroom leaving May to chuckle to herself as she walks down the stairs.

Once May reached the bottom of the staircase she saw Delia wave her over from the couch near the fireplace. There was not only Professor Oak but also her parents and a couple of other parents as well.

She asks, "What's up Ms Ketchum?"

"Delia's fine, dear. But do you mind checking on Ash out back. I sent him out to fix a couple of lights with Pikachu and he isn't back yet. I'm sure he's fine but-"

"Yeah I get it. You're still worried. Don't worry, I'll check on him." May replied giving her a smile much to her relief.

She turned around and made her way through to the back door. Once she opened the door she ran into a tall figure. She almost rebounded back but strong arms caught her in place.

"Whoa, May. You gotta watch where you're going." Ash says flashing her a smile.

She smiles back, "Whoops."

"What are you doing out back here anyway?" Ash asks stepping back a bit so there's some space between them.

"I was actually coming to check on you. Your mom got a bit worried." May replied.

Ash nods, "Say no more."

"What was wrong with the lights anyway?" May asks out of curiosity. Ash begins to explain and as she does she notices something red above her. A ribbon to be exact. She doesn't think much of it until she sees what is below the ribbon. A green plant is attached by the ends and was wistfully hanging on top of them. Mistletoe.

Ash notices her vision flicker more often from him to the sky but continued to talk quite oblivious to what they were standing under. She nervously asks, "A-Ash..."

"...so Pikachu used Thunderbolt on the power switch and-" Ash stops and then says, "Yeah?"

She points upwards, "Do you know what that is?"

Ash scratches the back of his head unsure, "Yes, I'm pretty sure I do. I forgot what it was called though."

May answers, "It's mistletoe."

"Alright, cool." Ash casually says.

She continues, "And do you know what people do under mistletoe..."

"Er...nope. Can't remember."

May awkwardly fidgets with her fingers, "They...they...they kiss."

A wave of silence washed over them as Ash realises what they're supposed to do. He looks down on her and notices how the dark sky and christmas lights made her eyes a glimmering sapphire blue and highlighted her red lips. He suddenly becomes nervous. Usually Ash is carefree and a daredevil but what is it about kissing May that makes him want to back down. Was he not going to be good enough?

May waits expectantly. She's amused by how much thought seems to be going through Ash's mind. She softly teased, "Mistletoe's not going to last forever..."

Ash recollected his thoughts, "Oh right. Of course."

May explained, "Look Ash. There's no need to be nervous. We're friends and it's just some kiss under-"

She doesn't even have to time finish her sentence because Ash abruptly cuts her off by putting his hands on her shoulders and pressing his lips against hers. May slowly closed her eyes as she enjoys his warmth and touch. Slowly they began to explore each other's mouths but it was cut short by Ash pulled back to May's disappointment.

"I stand corrected. That wasn't just some kiss." May spoke as Ash intently listened to her. She cracks a smile, "That was a really good kiss."

Ash lets out a sigh of relief, "Ok, good. I wasn't awful."

"What do you mean? You were really good. It's a shame that...you stopped." May replied trailing off towards the end hoping Ash wouldn't notice.

He sheepishly replies, "Well, that was my first kiss."

"Seriously? No way!" May asked shocked holding onto one of his arms. "How have you never been kissed?"

Ash shrugged, "I don't know. I guess I was just too busy."

"Too busy my ass." May teased, "Maybe you were just saving it for the right girl."

"Maybe I was." Ash replied leaving May to blush. He gave her a shy smile realising what he had just said.

He sighed, "I hope this doesn't make things awkward between us because that would suck a lot. You're seriously one of my best friends so-"

"Don't be so over dramatic." May teased hitting him on the arm.

"Me? Over dramatic?" Ash scoffed. He let loose a grin, "Says the girl who had a meltdown when the restaurant ran out of dumplings."

"To be fair they were really good dumplings." May countered. She tried to keep a straight face but it proved to be a challenge when Ash had one of his infectious smiles that could keep someone smiling for days.

An idea soon came to May's mind which made her smile curve into a seductive smirk. Ash looks at her a bit worried yet intrigued. She holds his hands and leads him to the edge of the porch at the back of the house. May takes a seat on the fence of the porch and wraps her arms around Ash's neck pulling him in closer. She feels his warm breath once again and says with a sultry voice, "How would you look to have your first make out session?"

"Thought you'd never ask." Ash cheekily replies.

She bites her bottom lip, "With game like that how have you ever been single?"

"Cuz I only have eyes for you." Ash blushes at the compliment making her giggle. He gives her another one of his famous smiles that makes her heart melt.

She laughs, "Shut up and kiss me, Ash."

"Don't have to ask me twice." He replies.

The two pick up where they left off under the mistletoe and take their time. The night sky shadowing over their silhouettes. Ash leaning down to kiss her, hold her gently in his arms while May runs her hands through his hair. A nice moment. Two teenagers lost in their feelings during the magical time of Christmas.

The back door opens but neither of them stop. A voice clears their throat and grabs their attention. It's Gary, his hair is a mess, messier than his "perfect mess" and he's much more elated than he usually is. He smirks, "As much as I'd hate to interrupt your little make out sesh. We're opening presents and we need everybody there to withhold the tradition okay."

May hops off the porch fence, "Ok we'll be there. By the way. Thanks. From before."

Gary winks, "No Maple. Thank _you_. I'm now 50 bucks richer than I was and I beat Paul.

He then saunters off back into the living room. Ash asks, "Was that from the kitchen?"

"Yeah." She nods, "He was wondering when you and I would kiss under the mistletoe."

Ash chuckles. When May opens the sliding door Ash manages to steal a quick kiss from her. It makes her let loose a squeal-like giggle and for her Santa hat to displace in her head. Ash laughs once more and fixes her hat before taking her arm and spinning her into his arm. She removes her Santa hat and places it on top of his head.

She jokes, "I guess you're my Christmas present."

"I doubt any other Christmas present you get will be able to top me." Ash teased.

"You have been spending WAY too much time with Gary." May remarked as they walked to the crowd of people surrounding the fireplace and Christmas tree.

**Done. Voila. A cute little story for you advanceshippers. Hope you liked it.**

**Merry Christmas!**

**This is my first one shot so I'm pretty proud of myself since this isn't usually my style. Anyways. Merry Christmas (again) and a Happy New Year.**

**IdealSkylar**

**P.S I haven't proofread this so I am terribly sorry if there are mistakes. Don't hesitate to tell me. It's just that it's 3am right now and I'm typing on my phone. And Fanfiction is being incredibly weird and won't let me type properly. Also I wrote this in like 30 minutes (yay me) and now I am dead from celebrating Christmas and I honestly just need sleep. :/**


End file.
